@

]]>https://abortiongang.wordpress.com/2014/04/14/abortion-gang-at-clpp-2014/feed/0chanelabortiongangBic9uJ7CMAAuttTThe Round Uphttps://abortiongang.wordpress.com/2014/03/28/the-round-up-2/
https://abortiongang.wordpress.com/2014/03/28/the-round-up-2/#respondFri, 28 Mar 2014 02:32:25 +0000http://abortiongang.org/?p=4536Here’s what some of us at Abortion Gang have been paying attention to lately:

Kaiser does a great job of outlining how this case isn’t only about contraceptive coverage and religious freedom, but also whether corporations should be considered people and the implications this case could have on corporate law.

I’ve been watching the hysteria from the anti-abortion zealots over the coathanger necklaces from the DC Abortion Fund , and am giddy at the thought of how much DCAF has been able to capitalize on the negative publicity to help women in need. Looking forward to being able to spot fellow supporters on the street and be able to match up our necklaces like a secret handshake. This is my personal favorite blog post I’ve seen.

I’ve been reading up on the Hobby Lobby birth control case, and am looking forward to standing outside of the Supreme Court in DC on Tuesday with other women’s healthcare supporters as oral arguments are heard.

In NC, we had a hell of a year in 2014 with a Motorcycle Vagina law that threatened to close every clinic but one, a wonderful clinic in the furthest corner of our state called Femcare (if you have a short memory or live under a rock, catch up on Motorcycle Vagina here and here.) With the 2014 session starting in less than two months and NC feminists waiting at the doors to find out how our general assembly will continue their path of destruction, Femcare’s owner has decided to retire and put the clinic up for sale. Planned Parenthood has announced plans to open a health center providing abortions in the same town and we await further developments. There is a lot of uncertainty and some genuine concern about making sure one of our most dedicated NC providers is treated well.

]]>https://abortiongang.wordpress.com/2014/03/28/the-round-up-2/feed/0chanelabortiongangAbortion and the ACA: What You Need To Knowhttps://abortiongang.wordpress.com/2013/12/11/abortion-and-the-aca-what-you-need-to-know/
https://abortiongang.wordpress.com/2013/12/11/abortion-and-the-aca-what-you-need-to-know/#commentsWed, 11 Dec 2013 18:46:14 +0000http://abortiongang.org/?p=3700

I believe that health care is a human right, which is why I have been a long time supporter of health care reform. When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) passed, while I realized it wasn’t going to be the answer to all of our healthcare problems, I also knew that it was a step in the right direction. And now it’s game time! The roll out of the ACA has started and I feel very strongly about being an out and proud fan of the ACA and doing everything I can to help it be as successful as possible. But the problem is, the ACA actually really sucks when it comes to abortion coverage and it’s been making me think, as an abortion supporter, how do I negotiate fully supporting a law that may actually make access to abortion harder?

Before we dive into that, let’s take a look at abortion coverage in the ACA.

1) Abortion cannot be listed as an essential health benefit. The ACA outlines 10 essential benefit categories that must be covered in health insurance plans, and the specific requirements are determined by each state. The ACA prohibits states from including abortion as an essential health benefit.

2) The Hyde Amendment is still in place. The Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal funding to cover abortions except in the case of rape, incest or endangerment of the life of the pregnant person, still applies. A big part of the ACA is the optional state expansion of Medicaid to persons up to 133% of the federal poverty guideline. While the Medicaid expansion is great for increasing coverage to low income people, with the Hyde Amendment in place Medicaid will continue not to cover elective abortions unless someone lives in one of the 17 states that only uses state money to pay for abortions.

3) No federal funds, including federal subsidies used to buy health insurance, can be used to pay for elective abortions. If a health insurance plan in the healthcare exchanges offers abortion services for cases other than incest, rape or endangerment of the pregnant person, plans have to follow segregation requirements to make sure that no federal money is used to pay for abortion services. This means that individuals have to make two separate premium payments: one for the payment of abortion coverage which they have to use their own money for, and another payment for the remainder of the coverage which can use federal subsidies.

4) All state health insurance exchanges must offer one plan that does not cover abortion. But there is nothing that requires that there is at least one plan that DOES cover abortion.

Put all together, we end up with a system that fails to recognize abortion as an essential health right, expands the Hyde Amendment restrictions to more people, and creates a really complicated system for abortion coverage. Now it’s important to remember that the rules regarding the separate premium payments only applies to insurance bought in the state healthcare exchanges. So for people with private employer based insurance that covers abortion these rules won’t affect them. But considering that the health care exchanges are set up for people who should benefit from federal subsidies and don’t have any other access to health insurance, it continues to make access to abortion harder for people who may need it most. Also, the separate health insurance premium for abortion coverage, could act like an abortion rider that people can choose to purchase. So instead of someone just buying one insurance policy to cover everything, they’d have to choose to buy a separate policy for abortion coverage, and make two separate payments. But that takes away the whole point of having insurance because it’s supposed to protect us from the unexpected and as we all know, no one plans to have an abortion. What’s even worse is that insurance companies may become less willing to provide abortion coverage because of the hassle and red tape they have to go through to collect separate payments. And on top of that, there is also a lot of state variation. Already, 18 states have prohibited abortion coverage in any plans in the state exchanges and nine states have prohibited abortion coverage in the entire private health insurance market.

Basically that’s a lot of bad news. Sure, it’s great that the ACA will cover preventative services and now we can access birth control with no copay, but the problem is that people need access to the full spectrum of sexual and reproductive health care. People will always need abortions and we have a fundamental right to access them just like any other healthcare service. If the purpose of the ACA is to increase access to health insurance and consequently access to healthcare, it feels disingenuous to be perpetuating a system where not all healthcare services are treated equally. Not only does it affect access, but it continues the stigma and shame surrounding abortion.

So where do we go from here? The most important thing is to keep working hard to increase abortion access to those who need it. The ACA will make abortion funds, and sexual and reproductive health clinics as important as ever and they need our support and commitment. On top of that, we need advocates on the ground to help people navigate an ever changing system, and understand what their options are for abortion coverage. It won’t be easy, and at times it will feel really frustrating, which is why we also have to remember to put the situation in perspective. We have a broken health care system that needs to be fixed and the ACA finally offers an opportunity to start fixing the system slowly but surely. Obviously this doesn’t mean that the way the ACA treats abortion is justified, but it’s important to remember that this is just the first step in a long process. I am cautiously optimistic that the goal of the ACA to improve access to insurance and healthcare, will lead to deeper conversations and ideas about what that means and looks like on the ground. That’s why we have to remember that this fight is far from over. We have to keep talking about why abortion is an essential part of healthcare, so that we can grab any opportunity there is in the future to improve access and coverage of abortion services.

]]>https://abortiongang.wordpress.com/2013/12/11/abortion-and-the-aca-what-you-need-to-know/feed/3annaabortiongangThe Dangers and Implications of Medical Murderhttps://abortiongang.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/the-dangers-and-implications-of-medical-murder/
https://abortiongang.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/the-dangers-and-implications-of-medical-murder/#commentsWed, 19 Jan 2011 21:09:25 +0000http://abortiongang.org/?p=1564In a shocking article recently published by the Associated Press, it was revealed that a Pennsylvania doctor has been charged with eight counts of murder in a case that screams for the publics attention for many reasons. I will go ahead and warn you now, this is a horribly graphic and heartbreaking account, so please read with discretion. Now it is also important to note that this story is just coming to light, and so the full scope and validity of all of the allegations put forth in the article have yet to be fully substantiated. However, if true, this does highlight a number of points that need to be examined.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 69, made millions of dollars over 30 years, performing as many illegal, late-term abortions as he could, prosecutors said. State regulators ignored complaints about him and failed to inspect his clinic since 1993, but no charges were warranted against them given time limits and existing law, District Attorney Seth Williams said. Nine of Gosnell’s employees also were charged.

Gosnell “induced labor, forced the live birth of viable babies in the sixth, seventh, eighth month of pregnancy and then killed those babies by cutting into the back of the neck with scissors and severing their spinal cord,” Williams said.

What makes this story ever the more tragic, is that there were complaints lodged to the State that were not investigated for so long. In fact, if it had not been for complaints about drugs that stemmed from the clinic, investigators would seemingly never have looked into the complaints that were filed. How many of these victims could have been prevented had the State not only listened to the complaints being filed, but acknowledged the overwhelming number of women finding themselves in need of services they could not get anywhere else. So there are numerous implications that Pennsylvanian representatives need to address, and now!

This is a prime example of how the stigma attached to abortion, and the attacks on abortion which limit a womans access to safe procedures, gives rise to this kind of barbarism. If you thought that the back-alley abortions were just a horror story of the past, then think again. Just now there are clinics like this one where women are subjected to opportunistic and conscienceless practitioners who do not have the patients care as a priority at all.

Patients were subjected to squalid and barbaric conditions at Gosnell’s Women’s Medical Society, where Gosnell performed dozens of abortions a day, prosecutors said. He mostly worked overnight hours after his untrained staff administered drugs to induce labor during the day, they said.

The entire story reads like bad fiction, and what makes it all that much worse, is that, as previously mentioned, had the complaints that had been filed been investigated, had one representative from the State looked into the doctors background at all, or even looked into the qualifications of the staff so many red flags would have gone off that so much of this could have been stopped. But abortion is such a hot button issue, especially these days with the societal stigma and propaganda machines rolling through community after community, that it seems many politicians want little or nothing to do with it. So getting the oversight right is not always an easy thing to achieve. Just as the threat level from the anti side keeps many qualified and caring professionals from pursuing this line of medical focus, and so the situation gets more desperate.

So many women are unnecessarily put into harms way because of the way abortion has been demonized in public and professional forums. Perhaps we should recognize that the service provided at these clinics is necessary. And when you have stories like this one, where women have nowhere else to turn but to doctors like this, that we recognize that it only demonstrates that need more strongly. Then we could work at removing the stigma. No one is asking anyone to “like” that it is necessary, merely to admit that it is. Then perhaps we can begin getting more safeguards and more qualified, caring professionals in place to prevent horror stories like this from being a reality for some.

When I read about the crusade to eliminate state insurance coverage for abortion care in states like North Carolina, Georgia, Colorado and Kansas it makes me angry. I wanted to scream when I found out that Stupak was adding anti-abortion language to the health care bill. He was trying to use abortion to stop health care from being passed which is just an asshole thing to do. The health care bill should not be about abortion.

The sad stories depress me and have made me cry. When I read about women who are forced to stay in abusive relationships because they are pregnant, have no options, and can’t afford to leave the situation, I am bewildered. No woman should ever have to remain pregnant if she doesn’t want to. But knowing that there are people out there who try day in and day out to block access to abortion inspires me to fight harder for choice.

My inspiration to keep fighting also comes from other women. My mom is one of those women. When she was my age she worked at a women’s clinic in downtown Boston. We talk about her experiences and the threats her clinic received on a daily basis. My mom’s passion, dedication to the cause, and unwavering support keep me inspired. Reading feminist literature such as Jessica Valenti’s Full Frontal Feminism and Yes Means Yes put a smile on my face and make me never want to give up. Being part of the Abortion Gang is also inspiring. Knowing that there are so many other young women who feel the way that I do and want to fight for choice is such a great feeling. Even though I haven’t met my fellow gang members I feel connected to them because we are fighting the same fight and have the same passion.

Something else that inspires me to keep up the fight is what I’ve learned in my graduate social work program. I believe in self determination. I want to be able to make my own decisions about my body and I want everyone else to be able to do the same. It is an individual’s thoughts and feelings that lead them to a decision. It may not be what I would decide, but that doesn’t matter because I am not that person. I think about self determination when I think about abortion. Pro-choicers are not asking everyone to have an abortion, promote abortion, or [insert other ridiculous accusation made by the antis here]. We want to be able to choose what we do with our bodies. We want safe and legal abortion as well as a wide array of other reproductive health care options to be available so that women (and men) can make their decisions based on their own feelings and beliefs.

I want to see the disappointing news go away but until it does I will use it as my fuel to stay inspired. The bad stuff just makes me want to do more. I will not stop fighting until everyone has access to safe abortion and comprehensive reproductive health care.

]]>https://abortiongang.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/some-immediate-benefits-of-health-care-reform/feed/1denaabortiongangThe Pro-Choicers Who Force Birth.https://abortiongang.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/the-pro-choicers-who-force-birth/
https://abortiongang.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/the-pro-choicers-who-force-birth/#commentsMon, 29 Mar 2010 16:33:56 +0000http://abortiongang.org/?p=211As I’m sure you all know, health care reform passed recently. The health care reform battle has triggered a lot of debates concerning abortion, and people everywhere have been sharing their opinions. To my dismay, some of these people, who call themselves pro-choice, have actually been supporting Stupak and his attempts to dump abortion coverage from health care reform. The question that I have for them is this; why?

Pro-Choice: The belief that all people should have the right to decide what is going to happen to his or her body, particularly as it pertains to pregnancy. I would hope that all pro-choicers would agree on this definition. The thing is, without access to abortion, the legality of the procedure is meaningless. Operation Rescue knows this, that’s why they’re trying to exterminate abortion providers. Stupak knows this, that’s why he tried to eliminate all federal funds for abortions during the health care reform battle. Anti-choicers know this piece of information, and they’re using it as a weapon to eliminate women’s rights. However, are pro-choicers aware of this fact?

I would say that, for the most part, pro-choicers are aware of the fact that, without access, the right to abortion means nothing. However, it seems as if a good number of self proclaimed pro-choicers either don’t realize this or don’t care. These “pro-choicers” say that they support the legality of abortion, but only if the woman has a good enough reason, or only if this is her first abortion, or only if she’s not using it as “birth control”. The types of “pro-choicers” that I’ll be writing about today are the ones who support the legality of abortion, but do not support the funding of abortion.
I’ll say it again. Without access, the right to abortion is meaningless. There are a lot of women that, if they had to, could get by and have an abortion without financial assistance from outside sources. For me and for many of you that are reading this, $400 dollars isn’t that much to pay. We would be able to pay for an abortion out of our own pockets.

If you are one of those people, then you are privileged.

Many other women aren’t as privileged as you are. Many women have to keep on rescheduling their appointments, over and over again, because they can never gather up enough money. This poses as a major problem because, as you know, abortions become more expensive (not to mention more risky!) as the pregnancy goes on. Some women have to skip meals, or skip out on paying their rent for the month. Some women can’t afford a hotel and are forced to sleep in their cars because of the anti-choice mandatory waiting periods. Others can’t afford a safe abortion at all, and have to resort to going to unsafe clinics like Dr. Gosnell’s clinic. Some take the matters into their own hands, and throw themselves down a flight of stairs, or ask their boyfriend’s to beat them up in order to induce a miscarriage. To those who are “pro-choice” but do not support the funding of abortions, I ask you; what of those women? What of their choice?

I was talking to one of these “pro-choicers” on Twitter, and I asked her about those women. I asked her what a woman should do if she can not afford an abortion. Her answer? “if you can’t afford an abortion, then you are going to have a baby. Period.”

How the hell is that pro-choice?

That woman is “pro-choice”, but only for the people are are privileged enough to be able to afford an abortion. Otherwise, she isn’t much different from anti-choicers. She supports forcing women through pregnancies. What’s pro-choice about that?

To all of the pro-choicers out there, you can donate to an abortion fund here. Please fight for the right to choose, even for women who are not as privileged as you are.

]]>https://abortiongang.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/the-pro-choicers-who-force-birth/feed/5reemaabortiongangHealth Care Reform, Abortion Politics, and Nihilismhttps://abortiongang.wordpress.com/2010/03/26/health-care-reform-abortion-politics-and-nihilism/
https://abortiongang.wordpress.com/2010/03/26/health-care-reform-abortion-politics-and-nihilism/#commentsFri, 26 Mar 2010 16:27:43 +0000http://abortiongang.org/?p=199It’s been a few days now, but I still start pacing and speaking inappropriately loudly whenever health care reform and abortion coverage comes up. Regardless of what the actual effect of Obama’s executive order turns out to be, we’re still looking at the worst abortion restrictions in some 30 years. Hopes of repealing the terrible Hyde amendment anytime soon took a severe beating, and experts say the Nelson amendment is likely to do nearly as much damage to private insurance coverage for abortion as the Stupak amendment.

Last week Michelle Goldberg made the case that despite this awful rollback of reproductive rights, feminists should still support the bill. I pretty much agree. I’m basically just thankful I’m not one of the 41 pro-choice representatives who pledged not to restrict reproductive rights and then had to go back on their word or vote against a bill that, despite its shortcomings, will give 30 million people health insurance and be “the greatest expansion of the social safety net in a generation.”

But I’m still infuriated about how we got there. As Goldberg writes:

Anti-abortion forces have had the advantage in this fight because they’re willing to sacrifice the health of millions on the altar of their ideology. Their nihilism gives them leverage.

That the Republicans—who would never in a million years vote for Obama’s fantasy basketball pick let alone his administration’s most important piece of legislation—would engage in this kind of nihilism is, of course, so entirely unsurprising I can’t even be that outraged. Yelling about abortion was just good politics on their part—and if they don’t give a fuck about people’s access to health care in general, I suppose you can’t really blame them for not caring about women’s health.
But I can barely find the words to express my disgust at the handful of anti-choice Democrats—Stupak, Nelson, and company—who held up reform at every step of the process and even at (quite literally) the 11th hour were pushing for still tighter abortion restrictions. These so-called Democrats, who claim to believe in the goals of health care reform, threw enough temper tantrums and told enough outright lies that they managed to get their way. And they only were able to do that because they could offer a credible threat that if they didn’t get their way, they would sink the entire bill.

Can we please take a minute to consider how ridiculous that is?

At the press conference announcing they’d wrangled the executive order from the White House, Stupak proudly said: “There was a principle that meant more to us than anything and that was the sanctity of life.

Ok, so there are a few obvious problems with this. First, “the sanctity of life” is one of those buzz words that doesn’t actually mean anything. Second, despite what Stupak goes on to say (in that Midwestern drawl that almost makes me ashamed to be a Minnesotan), this was never about “protecting those unborn children.” If they actually cared about reducing the number of abortions—if that really meant more to them than anything—they would have fought for universal health care coverage at all costs. Because nothing saves unborn children (and also born children if that’s more your thing) like better health coverage. So no, this was less about abortions and more about who pays for them; less about “unborn children” and more about born adults—specifically those adults who like to judge other adults and self-righteously sniff, “Well, I don’t want my hard-earned tax dollars paying for their mistakes.” But, of course, it wasn’t even about that because federal funding of abortion was never, ever going to be allowed in the health care reform bill. The faintest whisper of the idea of federal funding of abortion (oh the horror!) never came within 500 miles of this bill. In fact, folks worked fucking hard to ensure that the unjust status quo—in which poor women are routinely and systematically denied insurance coverage for a legal medical procedure—was maintained, in the hope that health care reform could progress smoothly without a detour into the divisive land of abortion politics. Naïve, you say? Um, ya think?

But what really gets me is that even though this was so clearly about politics, not principles, Stupak can stand up there and declare: “There was a principle that meant more to us than anything and that was the sanctity of life.” And a whole lot of people not only believe him but also think that commitment to one’s “pro-life” beliefs is an alright reason to let millions suffer and thousands die because they lack health insurance. Maybe it’s not one they would personally agree with, but hey, if you think abortion is murder, you gotta stick to your principles, amirite?

And that right there is the problem. In our political discourse, opposition to abortion is seen as a moral position, while support for abortion rights is seen as a political position. This imbalance allows anti-choice politicians to hid behind an abstract principle like the “sanctity of life” and somehow avoid making the tough compromises for the greater good that are required of everyone else. Their “moral” opposition places them above reproach while the rest of us are expected to get down to the nitty-gritty, the give-and-take, the bitter concessions of actual policy-making.

And I, for one, am so fucking tired of it. I believe it is immoral to force a woman to have a child against her will. I believe it is a violation of human rights to deny women the right to abortion. I believe that with the same strength of conviction as a zealous anti-choicer who believes abortion is the straight-up murder of an unborn child. Furthermore, I also happen to believe that it’s immoral and a violation of human rights to deny anyone health care. I believe in these things because of my absolute moral principles. Yet I live in a society where not everyone agrees with me and work within a political system that demands compromises. (And, unlike some people, I don’t inhabit a fantasy world that revolves around me and is full of unicorns and easy answers.)

Some say reproductive rights advocates made a strategic mistake in this health care reform battle: we should have pushed for more at the beginning so we wouldn’t be left with nothing to negotiate away. Ok. But also—it’s really fucking hard to battle nihilism disguised as principles. And we need to put the blame squarely where it belongs: with the anti-choice Democrats and Republicans who cared more about politics than what’s right. In the end, we lost this round because we believe in a woman’s right to abortion and every person’s right to quality health care coverage. And the opposition cared about neither.

Now before I go any further, I want to say that people who are actively involved in pro-choice activism year round, 24/7/365, need not read on. This is not about you.

To those of you who sit around and go “Roe v Wade is law, why should I speak out?” or “The Hyde amendment doesn’t bother me” – yeah, you keep reading.

My big question is- DO YOU CARE? Do you care about women? Do you care about children? Do you care about your sisters, your mother, your aunts, your daughters, yourself?
If you care, why don’t you speak up until the damage has already been done?!

Health care reform passage is an epic, historic event, even if it happens as the bus rolls over us women. But it seems there were some women on the bus, who are just now realizing that they’re being thrown under it. What took you so long? Where were you when Stupak brought out his amendment months ago? I remember the fury that appeared right after that passed. Where did it go between then and now? All those wonderful, beautiful, pro-choice ladies (and some gentlemen, too!) disappeared into the woodwork. And now you want to come back and suddenly complain that the anti-choice men are kicking you off the bus?

It’s enraging.

There’s only one benefit to this. If we can keep this fury around this time, we can do good with it. We can convince Obama that the anti-choice Executive Amendment should not have happened, because it pleased 6 Congressmen at the expense of millions of women. We can fight out against anti-choice laws which are being brought up in numerous states across the US (don’t forget, miscarriage is illegal in Utah). We can remind the world that America is a pro-choice country with a pro-choice majority.

So please- I’m begging you- don’t crawl back into the woodwork. Don’t give up in a few days and go home. Don’t. Stop. Caring.

Because while today they only took away your sister’s right to freedom, tomorrow they’ll be coming for yours.

]]>https://abortiongang.wordpress.com/2010/03/23/i-am-angry-at-you-pro-choice-americans/feed/7kushielsmoonabortiongangWhat Health Care Reform?https://abortiongang.wordpress.com/2010/03/22/what-health-care-reform/
https://abortiongang.wordpress.com/2010/03/22/what-health-care-reform/#commentsMon, 22 Mar 2010 15:57:37 +0000http://abortiongang.org/?p=134Inevitably, as pro-choice activists we face people who simply do not understand the need for a reproductive health movement. Roe is the law of the land, what’s the big deal? Nine times out of 10 my infuriated response dives straight into an explanation of Hyde, the erosion of protections in the states, and what it means now that we have legally lost the right to have an abortion for health reasons alone. But now I have an addendum, health care reform and the inevitable loss of private health insurance coverage of abortion.

Though I am ecstatic we are on our way to passing historic legislation that will help millions of Americans, I have never been more dedicated to promoting reproductive justice. The mainstream pro-choice movement has officially lost its way and we, as reproductive justice activists, need to fill their gap. I woke up this morning to an email from Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood, four paragraphs in she merely notes that the Nelson amendment stands. If Planned Parenthood is going to settle, who is going to fight?

I understand we all want to improve health care for as many Americans as possible, and that unfortunately we do not have the political climate to get truly comprehensive health care to everyone, but we already compromised on abortion with the status quo. Why do we have to set ourselves back farther? Who does that help? Why are we again leaving behind poor women?